Dates set for first remote jury trials
Remote High Court trials in Scotland, with juries watching proceedings on cinema screens, will begin before the end of this month.
Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service has confirmed that the first trials will start on 28 September in Edinburgh (Fort Kinnaird) and on 12 October in Glasgow (Braehead, Renfrewshire).
The move follows the recommendation from Lady Dorrian’s Restarting Solemn Trials Working Group, which met to consider how to conduct solemn trials in a way that meets public health requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic but also has the capacity to reduce the backlog of trials that has built up. It has been supported by the Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates, who were represented on the working group, as well as SCTS.
The remote jury centres, based in selected Odeon cinema complexes, are a first in the United Kingdom and have drawn interest from the rest of the UK and beyond. Having jurors remote from the court building will allow High Court trials to operate at pre-COVID-19 business levels.
Jury citations have now been issued for the first three High Court trials to be supported by the Edinburgh jury centre. The trials themselves will be conducted from courtrooms at Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Sheriff Court and Livingston Sheriff Court.
The cinemas chosen have pre-existing, high levels of digital connectivity and extremely secure IT infrastructure. They offer soundproofed accommodation, which is important for jury deliberations, and are able to provide accommodation for the entire contract duration along with resilience arrangements.
Under the contract, SCTS will have exclusive access to the cinema complexes from Monday to Friday. The selected cinemas will remain open for cinemagoers at weekends from Friday 6pm through to Sunday night.
The courtrooms to be used are being fitted out with the cameras and technology necessary to broadcast the trials to the cinema screens and to receive the video wall of jurors into the courtroom.
Balloting the jury is done in the court room in advance without the jurors being present. Only the 15 jurors balloted, plus a small number of substitutes, will arrive at the jury centre for the trial, with each jury being supported by a court officer and technical specialists.
Jurors will be presented with four views on the cinema screen. At all times the screen will show the judge and the accused, with the other screens showing witnesses, prosecutor/defence or evidence.
Their deliberations will take place in the same cinema room, with physically distanced tables and chairs linked by microphones. Masks will be available to jurors but will not be required to be worn in the jury room. Specified cleaning will take place daily and at transitional handovers to and from cinema use.
Eric McQueen, SCTS chief executive, commented: "We are grateful to Odeon Cinemas for working alongside us to make the concept of remote jury centres a reality. We need to move swiftly to increase the number of High Court trials taking place and we will do this incrementally as soon as we can.
"The next couple of weeks will involve testing and familiarisation visits from all professional trial participants and supporters. It is important for everyone involved in these trials to understand the set-up and functionality of the centres and their relationship with the courtroom. For the jurors who will be taking part in these cases we have to reassure them of the steps we have taken to support them to undertake their civic duty during this time of COVID-19."
Ronnie Renucci QC, Vice Dean of Faculty and President of the Scottish Criminal Bar Association, a member of the working group said: "The Scottish criminal bar welcomes and applauds the vibrant return to full scale criminal trials that the innovative jury centre solution represents. Remote jury centres break new ground and will be of the keenest interest to other nations wrestling with the havoc wreaked by COVID on adversarial justice systems around the world."
Crown Agent David Harvie added: "The opening of these jury centres is an important step which will allow for the number of High Court trials held to come back up to pre-pandemic levels.
"Work across the justice system on tackling the accumulated caseload continues, and innovative measures such as this will bring real benefits for people who are waiting for cases to come to trial."